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Such a controversial topic. Where to begin?
Perhaps it would be sensible to outline what I consider self harm, and I'm pretty basic about it, you know, strip it down to the core. The harming of self. But we all self-harm regularly, I'd imagine, for our own less extreme ends. I hurt myself today when I was ripping some micropore tape off my skin. People hurt themselves when they get a facial piercing. However, let us assume that the self harm of which I talk is the most common variety; the cutting.
I'm under no illusions that many of you reading this will have cut. I myself haven't, so if anything I say here sounds ignorant, that is my excuse. These are just the curious observations of an outsider.
Whereas cutting was rare and even unheard of a few decades ago, it has become a hallmark of the youth of today. Society changes, and with it come the inevitable trends, of which cutting has sadly become one. I think we'd all agree that cutting for the sake of vanity is wrong and silly; there are better ways of fitting in.
It is a dangerous and slightly narrow point of view to assume that genuine cutters are "stupid". Am I the only one that sees insulting an obviously fragile and troubled person as not exactly the right course of action? Yes, maybe cutting to you is 'ridiculous', but people get scars etched into their skin and filled with ink for fun, don't they?
My honest opinion:
I view self-harm as a negative but sadly necessary thing. I don't assume many people who cut think that cutting is fantastic, and I'm sure most, of not all of them would much rather have a happy life and no arm-scars. So I say we accept self harm for what it is, not something beautiful and not something disgusting either. There are worse things in this world, far worse.
Nevertheless, I sometimes worry that we become too desensitised to self harm, and we stop taking it seriously. Because it is very, very serious. I also worry that self harm is becoming an integral part of youth culture today, and I hope it isn’t what my generation is remembered as. The MySpacers and the self harmers.
This concludes my moral vomit for the day. (:
Perhaps it would be sensible to outline what I consider self harm, and I'm pretty basic about it, you know, strip it down to the core. The harming of self. But we all self-harm regularly, I'd imagine, for our own less extreme ends. I hurt myself today when I was ripping some micropore tape off my skin. People hurt themselves when they get a facial piercing. However, let us assume that the self harm of which I talk is the most common variety; the cutting.
I'm under no illusions that many of you reading this will have cut. I myself haven't, so if anything I say here sounds ignorant, that is my excuse. These are just the curious observations of an outsider.
Whereas cutting was rare and even unheard of a few decades ago, it has become a hallmark of the youth of today. Society changes, and with it come the inevitable trends, of which cutting has sadly become one. I think we'd all agree that cutting for the sake of vanity is wrong and silly; there are better ways of fitting in.
It is a dangerous and slightly narrow point of view to assume that genuine cutters are "stupid". Am I the only one that sees insulting an obviously fragile and troubled person as not exactly the right course of action? Yes, maybe cutting to you is 'ridiculous', but people get scars etched into their skin and filled with ink for fun, don't they?
My honest opinion:
I view self-harm as a negative but sadly necessary thing. I don't assume many people who cut think that cutting is fantastic, and I'm sure most, of not all of them would much rather have a happy life and no arm-scars. So I say we accept self harm for what it is, not something beautiful and not something disgusting either. There are worse things in this world, far worse.
Nevertheless, I sometimes worry that we become too desensitised to self harm, and we stop taking it seriously. Because it is very, very serious. I also worry that self harm is becoming an integral part of youth culture today, and I hope it isn’t what my generation is remembered as. The MySpacers and the self harmers.
This concludes my moral vomit for the day. (:
I used to do the self-harm thing too. Not cutting, but biting myself. It was for completely different reasons, but I suppose the same principle applies.
I still do bite myself, sometimes, but it's different now. I don't do it to hurt myself like I used to. I always thought that if I could stand the physical pain (because I have really sharp teeth) I could stand other pain... and then everything would be okay. Granted, I never bit hard enough to break the skin, but like I said, the same principle applies. I'm glad I don't do it anymore, but I'm also glad that I didn't do anything that could give me scars. Even though sometimes scars do look kinda cool. I once got a scar from a cotton candy incident. My cotton candy made rock candy and it caught on fire and a small piece flew off and hit me in the face.
Database Error, August 17th, 2008 at 02:18:02am
I've known a kid who came up to me in my group of friends and showed me these tiny little marks on his wrist and claimed he cut himself all up.
And even at that age, I realized how attention starved he must have been. Honestly, what a fool. He was doing it merely for attention.
ignorance is bliss., April 27th, 2008 at 10:53:38pm
I liked this blog. ^__^
just_call_me_dookie, September 21st, 2007 at 07:13:07am
I liked your blog.
It seems that self harm [cutting mostly] hhas kind of..."exploded" into the youth scene recently. I've had discussions with my older cousin and she said that when she was in high school, it wasn't unheard of but cutters were few and far between.
I think, perhaps cutting was more... private than it is now.
it is truly toubling when people want attention so much that they will cut to fit in. Self harm is not always taken seriously enough [as you said] and the fact that it has become...a bit trendy, hasn't helped that fact.
Question! I know Munchausen's syndrome is when people....feign an illness, or ham up a sickness to get attention. A basic, self-created problem so they can get sympathy etc. Since people who cut do it for attention, is this another form of this?
Also, the thing about people who self harm for attention. To want to go that far to get attention, for whatever reasons...vanity etc. they probably have some huge underlying issues as well.
Anyway. I find the topic of self harm interesting because the reality is that many people have a very ignorant or judgmental view on it.
Good blog.
Misanthropist, June 14th, 2007 at 07:27:20am
self harm involves beating yourself up, too. and ignoring pain sensations and letting them carry on.
i got into self harm easier because ive always thought if i can stand pain, it shows im stronger. this is true, definately, but ignoring pain isnt always right.
good blog =]
Lyddy r teh Snaily, June 12th, 2007 at 04:31:06pm
Yeah, it scares me how everyone is doing it now. I didn't know self harm even existed till I was about 14. o_o
paper shoes, June 8th, 2007 at 10:37:27pm
Great blog.
TMTCR, June 8th, 2007 at 03:16:03am
yes, i'll admit it, i do cut. itz cuz therez so much pressure, ya know??? itz cuz things are hard in life.
PenguinPunk, June 8th, 2007 at 12:31:29am
OMG OKAY I DIDN'T EVEN LIKE READ IT BUT THE TITLE OMG OMG LAFMDAO
dance hall drug., June 7th, 2007 at 11:43:41pm
My grandma actually argues with me over if its this new/old sensation. She is a nurse on a psych adolescent unit. She says this has been an issue for quite some time, kids have always done this, but the media didn't glamourize it then. She gets so aggrivated with me whenever I use the word "emo", because according to the kids she works with its so degrading. And I don't blame her for being mad, because it is a seriously neglected issue. She has an awesome job though, I think it would be really rewarding.
The kids who cut to fit in worry me too, though. The fact that you'd be willing to go as far as hurting yourself just for some form of attention is sad, makes you wonder what their home life is like. Sometimes people can appear to have perfectly happy lives, but you just never know what goes on behind closed doors.
Kurtni, June 7th, 2007 at 10:25:31pm